Steph's Disaster Wedding Day
by courtwire21
Summary: It is Steph's big day and it is turning into a disaster. Her dress won't fit and her family is driving her nuts. Which man is Steph marrying and is she making the right choice? Will Steph go through with the wedding or will she change her mind? Rated M for some language and possible lemons in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1-The Dress

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Chapter 1- The Dress

Stephanie couldn't breathe. The higher the zipper on the dress went the more she felt like she was suffocating. She needed this dress to zip. Today was her wedding day. Today she was going to marry the man of her dreams. At least she was pretty convinced he was the man of her dreams…right? Of course he was…definitely maybe. A very solid maybe…..shit. If she could just get this dress zipped she was marching her ass down that aisle.

"Damn white girl, you sure this is your dress? Because I have to be honest with you I don't think this zipper is going to make it over your ass without bustin," exclaimed Lula while wrestling with said zipper.

Stephanie could feel the beads of sweat starting to run down her back from the exertion of trying to suck in her body and force it into the dress. She blew out a breath, "Find a way to make it fit, I need this dress to fit. It is supposed to fit".

Steph seen her Grandma Mazur look up from her Cosmo magazine and take in the scene of Lula trying to get the dress to zip up Steph's body. "Well ain't that a pip. In 30 minutes you are supposed to be walking down that aisle and it looks like you have got no chance of getting that dress to zip. Should have laid off the Boston cremes, and tasty cakes, and cheese doodles, and let's not forget about all that birthday cake."

Steph knew she should have tried on the dress again closer to the wedding but she thought it would be fine. She knew she had gained a few extra pounds by the way she had to lie down on the bed and suck it in just to get her jeans to zip recently, but they did still fit so this damn dress should fit too.

It was a gorgeous dress. She decided since it was her second wedding that she would go with a cream colored gown instead of white. I mean she wasn't exactly a virgin the first time she wore white at her wedding but at least not everyone knew that for sure. I mean now she had already been married and divorced and everyone knew for a fact that this girl had done the dirty.

Of course her Mother and Valerie would have to choose this moment to walk back in. Her mother looked at the scene unfolding before her and gasped. "Oh my god, your dress doesn't fit! I told you to go on a diet. I warned you this was going to happen. I've waited all this time for a wedding and now you're going to ruin it. That man is never going to marry you if you have to walk down the aisle in your jeans and T-shirt."

Valerie was looking over at Steph while her Mother started doing hail Marys and crossing herself. When Valerie reached Steph's abdomen she gasped, "Oh my god! You're pregnant, right? That is why you can't get the dress to fit? Look at her stomach, you see that distinctive bulge? Yup, definitely pregnant, you don't get that distinctive bump from birthday cake, and pineapple upside down cake. That is definitely a baby bump. Well that settles it, now he has to marry you even if you can't get into that dress."

Stephanie felt her eye starting to twitch. "I am not pregnant!" At least she didn't think she was. She started doing math in her head to try and figure out when she had her last period and when it was due again. Shit! She couldn't think in this suffocating dress with her family standing around nodding to confirm to each other that this is why her dress didn't fit. In a moment of clarity she realized that she should be covered since she was on the pill (which she almost always remembered to take) and just to be positive they always used condoms as an added precaution. So there that settled it she used protection every time so there was no…oh no! She used protection every time except one time. Crap! Why did this stuff always happen to her? Most likely though she had just gained a little weight, right? She couldn't walk down that aisle though until she knew.

"She just got real pale like she just realized she is pregnant."

"I am going to be a Grandma again! You are finally giving me grandchildren. I never thought this day would come."

"Don't faint on me white girl, you have yourself a wedding to get to. I didn't spend all the money on a bridesmaid dress to have you faint on me. Not only that but I am missing out on a shoe sale right now at Macy's for this."

"This is a real pip Steph. Leave it to you to find out this exciting news on your wedding day. I have to say though I am curious. You were seeing both of those men with their fine asses until very recently so which one is the father?"

With her Grandma Mazur's comment Steph fled from the church in her half zipped wedding dress. She tottered down the steps of the church in her high heels and started fleeing in the direction of the nearest drug store. She was on a mission to get a pregnancy test. Crap, the nearest drug store had to be at least 5 miles away. As she came to this conclusion she seen a familiar black SUV pull up beside her at the curb and she stopped to watch as the window rolled down. Lester was in the passenger seat and Tank was driving. "Need a lift?"

"Ya, can you take me to the nearest drug store?"

Tank gave her an inquiring look while she climbed in the back seat, "You okay? You look a little pale."

"Yes, I just really need to go to a drug store."

Tank glanced at her in the rear view mirror and Lester gave him a slight shrug. They probably just had a whole conversation with that one shrug but Steph had long since given up trying to analyze all of their non-verbal communication.

When they pulled into a Walgreen's a few minutes later, Tank and Lester made motions of starting to get out of the car. "No! You guys just stay put and I'll be right back in just a few minutes ok?" Geez, how embarrassing would that be to have them watch her buying a pregnancy test on her WEDDING DAY of all days.

When they both just gave her blank stares she took this to be their confirmation that they were in fact going to stay in the car and wait on her. As she was walking into the store she thought that it was a little odd that they had been there as soon as she came out of the church. Before she could put much more thought into this though she realized she was getting a bunch of weird looks. Duh, she thought to herself, you're in a wedding dress and a half zipped one at that. Oh well, she had more pressing issues than worrying about people the people of Trenton seeing part of the back of her lingerie. She was sure that within minutes though the Burg grapevine would be working and the guests at her wedding would soon know she was not presently at the church.

She made it to the pregnancy tests in the store within a couple of minutes and then stood there staring in wonder at all of her options. How does one go about picking out a pregnancy test? She figured she better get a couple just to be safe. I mean she wanted to be sure. She had only had to do this one other time, and that time she had Mary-Lou with her to pick out what kind she should get. These two boxes were just going to have to do. She made her way to the checkout line and ignored the people who were continuing to stare at her even more oddly now that not only was she in a wedding dress but was in fact in line in a wedding dress and holding two boxes of pregnancy tests. Oh well, she thought, she had bigger things to worry about. When it was her turn she handed the cashier her two pregnancy tests and waited for her total.

"That'll be $31.30," said the cashier while giving her the I hate my job stare.

Damn, since when were little sticks you pee on so expensive? As Steph had this thought she came to the horrific conclusion that she had absolutely nothing on her to purchase these pregnancy tests with. Steph blushed a bright shade of red, "Um, I forgot my money in the car, can you wait just one minute while I go grab it?"

The cashier snapped her gum, "Sure, but be quick about it."

Steph walked quickly out to the SUV and tapped on the driver's side window. Tank rolled it down and gave her his blank stare. "Um, I kind of sort of rushed out of the church and forgot my purse, do you have some cash I could borrow? I will pay you back as soon as you drop me back off."

"Sure."

Steph exhaled in relief. She didn't want to have to drive back to the church, face her family, and come back and do this whole procedure all over again. Steph gave an inquiring look at Tank as he opened the car door and stepped out. "I can buy my stuff myself you don't have to go in. It is rang up already I just have to go back in and pay for it."

"That would be fine if I had cash on me. All I have with me is my debit and credit cards. It was poker night last night. I lost."

Crap, crap, crap. Now Tank was going to see what she was buying and she really didn't want that to happen. "You know, actually just take me back to the church and I will get my purse and come back here on my own, it's not a big deal."

"It's fine. Besides, don't you have a wedding to make it to?"

Gulp. "Ya, something like that."

Steph walked sullenly back to the cash register with Tank at her side. The cashier gave him the total and he swiped his card. Since the items were already bagged maybe he wouldn't notice them. Crap, too late he looked at the receipt.

Tank looked at Steph with eyes slightly widened as he handed over the receipt and bag. This was the equivalent of a normal person's jaw hanging open. Steph just blushed and made her way back to the SUV. Could this day get any worse?

A/N: This is my first fanfiction. Please review and let me know what you think. Should I continue? Which man is Stephanie marrying and is she really pregnant?


	2. Chapter 2- From Bad to Worse

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Chapter 2- From Bad to Worse

Once back inside the SUV Steph made sure to avoid eye contact with Tank in the rearview mirror. She really didn't want him telling Ranger about what she purchased at the drug store, but she felt that it was inevitable. Steph almost blurted out to Tank to take her home before she realized the absurdity of that thought. Oh yeah, she still had a wedding to attend today in which she was one of the main participants.

When she glanced back out the window she noticed they had arrived back at the church. As soon as the SUV came to a complete stop she flung her door open and was racing back up the church steps without a parting word to either Tank or Lester. She was on a mission and by her calculation she was due to start walking down the aisle in approximately fifteen minutes. She needed the results of the pregnancy test before she could walk down that aisle.

When she made it back through the doors of the church she noticed a few guests milling around near the guestbook and she thought she caught a glimpse of her bridal party along with her Mother and Grandmother. She immediately made a beeline for a secluded bathroom in the opposite direction of everyone else she had spotted. She hoped she had made it around the corner and into the hallway without being spotted by anyone. She felt that she needed a few moments to calm herself and to come to terms with the fact that she might be pregnant.

Steph locked the door behind her when she entered the bathroom. She was so nervous that she felt she might wet herself before she was even able to get the tests out of the packages. She started ripping open the boxes and then began ripping open the foil packages that contained the pregnancy tests. She figured the best way to do this would be to hold all 4 sticks in her hand and hope that if she moved her hand back and forth that her stream of urine would get on all 4 tests. Crap, what if she peed all over her hand or worse yet her dress. Oh well she didn't have any better ideas so she figured here goes nothing.

It took her a couple of minutes to get herself situated over the toilet while holding up her dress and holding all the pregnancy tests at the same time. She positioned the pregnancy tests where she thought she could hit them, held her breath and peed. It felt like it took forever before she was done. Of course she was in high heels trying to squat over a toilet, hold up her dress, and urinate on pregnancy tests all at the same time and she was quite impressed that she managed this task without getting her dress wet and only a minimal amount of urine on her hand.

She rearranged her dress, laid the pregnancy tests out on the bathroom counter, and then washed her hands. She figured she had a few minutes before she would know her answer and as she was now starting to feel a little dizzy and seeing black spots in her line of vision she figured it would be best to sit down on the bench in the bathroom.

Steph was trying to take a few deep calming breaths when she heard the lock on the bathroom tumble. Shit, there was only one person that could be. She went ahead and placed her head between her knees as she was starting to get dizzy again. She heard the bathroom door open and close and then heard footsteps that stopped directly in front of her.

"Babe."

"What are you doing in here? This is the Women's restroom."

"Are you okay? You have an aisle to walk down in approximately 5 minutes. Everyone has been looking for you. Tank told me you made an emergency drugstore run and that you looked like you might pass out. Is there anything you want…."

She knew when he started trailing off that Ranger had spotted the 4 pregnancy tests lined up on the counter. The fact that the sight of the pregnancy tests lined up had stunned him enough to make him lose his train of thought was truly impressive. Ranger was never caught off guard, or if he was he never let anyone else catch on to that fact.

"So I am guessing this is what warranted your emergency drugstore run?"

Steph finally looked up to see Ranger looking completely composed in a tailored tux. "Ya, I actually owe Tank money for these. I kind of ran out of the church in a rush and forgot my purse in the process."

"I see. And what do the tests say?"

"Um, I don't actually know. You see I have been trying to calm myself down and I don't actually know how long it has been since I have peed on them. I don't know that I am quite ready to know the answer yet. Will you look for me instead?"

Ranger was giving her his notorious blank face but after holding her gaze for what seemed like forever but in all actuality she was sure was only a few seconds he turned and headed for the bathroom counter. Just as he started heading towards the counter Steph decided she didn't actually want the answer quite at that moment and bolted out the door. If she thought this day couldn't get any worse, she was wrong.

Standing against the wall opposite the bathroom door appeared to be her groom. Although it was kind of difficult to be sure with what appeared to be Terry Gilman's tongue being shoved down his throat and all. Stephanie was gaping in horror at the scene before her when Morelli shoved Terry away and spotted her standing in the doorway of the bathroom. She jumped when she felt Ranger's hand land on her elbow.

She could feel the tears starting to pool in her eyes and she decided she needed to get out of there before she truly lost it. It was all just too much, the dress, the pregnancy tests, Terry "the slut" Gilman. She pried Ranger's hand off her elbow and started running towards the door.

She heard Morelli yelling after her as she was approaching the exit, "Steph, it's not what it looks like! I promise I wouldn't do that to you on our wedding day, I love you!"

If he said anything else she didn't hear it because she was already out the door and down the stairs. Most girls wouldn't be able to cover the distance she had in such a short amount of time while wearing a wedding dress and six inch heels, but hey she was a Jersey girl. When she reached the sidewalk outside of the church she spotted the familiar black SUV. She went running full speed for it, hopped in the back seat and barked out, "Drive!"

A/N: Thanks for the responses to the story so far. Let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3- How I Got Here

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Chapter 3- How I Got Here

Once Tank had been driving for a few minutes he met my gaze in the rearview mirror, "Where to?"

Good question. Where does one go when they live with their fiancé whom they just caught kissing another woman on their wedding day? So, Joe's house was definitely off the list for the moment. Her apartment was no longer an option since she had decided not to renew her lease when it was up 2 weeks ago, big mistake. If she was desperate enough she could always go to her parent's house…..she was definitely not that desperate yet though. Hmm…what choices did that leave her with? For one fleeting moment she considered Ranger's apartment with his thousand thread-count sheets and then immediately squashed that idea. But, "Hey, do you know if Ranger has some kind of safe house open at the moment that I could use?"

Lester turned around and gave her a one eyebrow raised look and then turned right back around in his seat. Sheesh, she was just curious. Tank finally answered her, "No, but we do have an apartment available on the 4th floor. If you would like to stay there till you figure something out I am sure Ranger wouldn't mind."

Considering that she really had no other options at the moment, it was pretty much a no brainer. "Take me there."

After Tank led her to the apartment and gave her the extra set of keys for it he left her alone. What did she do now? She ran away from her own wedding with nothing on her but her stupid wedding dress that didn't even fit. She had no purse, no phone, and no cash. She was all alone in the apartment with nothing but her thoughts, which at the moment weren't very pretty.

She decided since she couldn't stand to be in her half zipped dress any longer she would just take it off. After fighting with the zipper for what seemed like forever she finally got it down and stepped out of her dress. This was not how she had imagined this dress coming off. She had something much sexier in her mind, like Morelli ripping it off of her body before he ravaged her senseless. She had purchased special lingerie specifically for this occasion; she even had stockings attached to a garter belt for crying out loud. At least her lingerie still fit her, although she had purchased it about a month after her dress fitting. I mean it wasn't like she was fat, she had just gained some weight, most of which was in her abdomen area and come to think of it she might have been filling her bra out a little more these days. Ugh… Morelli. Just once in her life she wanted something to go right. Why was he kissing Terry on the day of their wedding anyways?

As if that wasn't bad enough she might possibly be pregnant on top of that. She never did see the results of the tests before she fled from the church. She wondered if Ranger had looked at them for her. She also wondered if Morelli knew. Though she figured if she was pregnant the most pressing issue might be who was the father? She tried to think back to her sexcapades between the two men before she had hopped aboard the Team Morelli train.

Ok, it's not as bad as it sounds. She had been in a semi-committed relationship with Morelli prior to their engagement. She thought semi-committed was the appropriate description because most of the time she was committed to Morelli and only Morelli. But she had a tendency to lose all thinking capabilities when she was around Ranger and there had been a few times where things went a little further than just flirting. She always felt guilty afterwards, I mean it's not like Morelli wasn't satisfying her in the sack. The thing is though, sex with Ranger is…..magic.

The other thing with Ranger is that he doesn't do commitment, relationships, or rings. He doesn't do babies either. Morelli not only does these things, but he actually wants them. I finally sat myself down and had a serious conversation with myself about how Ranger was never going to do anything but give me the occasional mind-blowing orgasm, and protect me, and always be there when I need him. I felt like maybe what I was doing was holding out for something that was never going to happen when I had something pretty great standing right in front of me. So about 6 weeks ago I put a stop to all Ranger-induced orgasms….the ones with my shower massager don't count. I sat Morelli down and told him I thought I was ready to be in a committed relationship and I was going to start staying at his house more often.

For once in our lives we must have been on the same wavelength because he asked me to marry him and had actually bought a ring, and well, I said yes. I had already done the wedding thing before so I let my Mom and Morelli's Mom take over the planning. They must have been nervous we would change our minds if we didn't get married soon because they had the wedding put together just a little after a month of being engaged.

When I told Ranger I was marrying Morelli you would have thought we were talking about the weather for all the interest he seemed to put into the conversation. His response when I told him was, "He can give you a ring and what you want."

I mean what's that even supposed to mean? How does he know what I want? Even I don't know what I want most of the time! And what was Ranger doing at the wedding in a tux anyways? She had invited him to the wedding but he had said he wasn't going to be attending, something about a prior commitment. Just as she was having her internal monologue she heard the locks tumble. Geez ever heard of knocking?

Ranger stepped through the door and assessed her current state of undress.

"I had to get out of that dress and I don't have any clothes with me at the moment to change into so…"

Ranger gave her a look, stepped into the bedroom and came back out with a large black t-shirt that he handed to her. She took this to mean she was supposed to put it on. The way he kept looking at her was kind of making her uncomfortable. It wasn't the normal I want to have you for lunch kind of look her usually gave her.

"Look if you're here with more bad news I think I am at least going to need a large glass of wine before you hit me with it. I honestly don't know how much more I can take today."

"Actually, you might want to hold off on that glass of wine."

Steph had to swallow a few times before she was able to speak, "And why is that exactly?"

Ranger reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a baggie. "Because these tests say you're pregnant."

And with that everything around her went dark.

A/N: Sorry for any grammatical errors that may be in this. I wanted to get this posted before I went to bed so I did a quick proofread on it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4- And the Hits Just Keep Coming

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Chapter 4- And the Hits Just Keep Coming

Steph blinked her eyes a few times and took in the room around her. Where was she? Oh yea, she was in one of the 4th floor apartments at Rangeman. How did she get in the bedroom? She didn't remember coming in here to lie down. Everything was a little bit fuzzy and then….SHIT! It was her wedding day, Morelli was kissing Terry, and she just found out she was, she was, gulp…pregnant. She bolted upright in the bed and started looking around the room for Ranger since he was the one to deliver the disturbing news.

Just as she was getting ready to get out of the bed Ranger came strolling in with a glass of water, "Nice of you to rejoin the world of the living babe."

She tried to mimic Ranger's blank face but she didn't think she was successful at achieving it. She was feeling so many things at once she couldn't really focus in on just one of them. She was pretty sure she was in a state of shock. Ranger handed her the glass of water and pulled a chair up in front of her beside the bed. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I, I….oh god, I'm pregnant! I'm going to be a mom! I don't know how to be a mom, I know nothing about babies! I am going to fail at this just like I have failed at everything else in my life…" with her last statement she felt the tears that had been building starting to spill over.

Ranger climbed onto the bed beside her and drew her against his chest. He started rubbing her back in little circles. "Babe, you are not a failure. I'm sure everything is going to be just fine. I'm pretty sure no one just instantly knows how to be a parent; it is just something you figure out along the way. Plus, you're not going to be doing this alone, Morelli wants kids, he is going to be ecstatic when you tell him."

By this point her crying had escalated into very unladylike sobs and she was pretty sure she was getting his tux wet. She tried to push away but he just pulled her tighter to him and kept rubbing soothing circles on her back. She didn't know if the child she was carrying was in fact Morelli's or if it was Ranger's batbaby. Had Ranger even came to the conclusion that there was in fact a possibility that this child could be his? And if it did turn out that he was the father how would he take the news? Would he want to be a part of the baby's life or would things be like they were with Julie where he offered financial support and did occasional visits? And what if it was Morelli's baby? Did she want to be with him after what she saw at the church? And why the hell was he kissing Terry?

She didn't even know where to begin her work on her never-ending list of questions. She had managed to get her sobs down to tears rolling down her cheeks and the occasional hiccup. She came to the realization by Ranger's last comment that apparently Morelli didn't know about the pregnancy tests results. She took a deep breath and tried to glance up at Ranger, "So what happened after I fled the scene of the crime?"

She could tell by the way his chest was moving that he was doing his silent laughter thing, "Well, after you left I collected your pregnancy tests since I didn't think you would want them on display for the Burg to see. When I stepped out of the bathroom Morelli and Terry were still standing outside of it and they were arguing about something. Morelli asked if I knew where you went and I told him that I didn't know where you had went but if I found out and you wanted to talk to him I would let him know where you were. He then started asking me what we were doing in the bathroom together so I just walked away."

"What did they tell everyone at the wedding?"

"I'm not exactly positive. I left before the announcement was made but I did see your Grandma making her way up to the podium so I am sure whatever she told them was interesting. Your father was busy trying to revive your mother who passed out when she seen you running out of the church."

The soothing circles on her back stopped and she noticed Ranger was glancing at his watch. "I'm sorry babe but I need to go. Are you going to be alright?"

She pulled away and wiped at the tears on her face. She looked up at Ranger and said, "Yes, I'll be fine. Look, I don't think I can go back to Morelli's house right now, I no longer have my apartment, and I don't think I could stand to be at my parent's house. Would it be ok-"

Before she could even finish speaking Ranger tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "Stay as long as you need to." With that said he extricated himself from Steph and started making his way towards the door. He glanced back at her once he had reached the door, "I grabbed your purse from the church so you have your wallet, keys and, cell phone at least. If you don't want to go to Morelli's right now you do have a small collection of clothing in my apartment on seven. Feel free to go up there and get anything you need. You're also free to use any of the vehicles; the keys are on the sideboard in my apartment. Look Steph, I know you probably don't want to talk to Morelli but you should call him. The sooner you talk to him the sooner you can work things out with him."

"And what if I don't want to work things out with him?"

Ranger gave her an assessing look, shook his head and said, "You should work things out with him. He loves you and you are going to have a baby together."

Steph knew that now would be as good a time as any to let him know that information might be incorrect but all she could do was stare at him. After a moment he turned and walked out of the bedroom. God forbid if he ever said goodbye.

She realized as she heard him closing the door behind him that she never did find out what he was doing at her wedding in a tux. She ran and made it to the door right after she heard him tumbling the locks back on the door. She wondered if he was locking it with a key or with his nifty lock-picking kit. She unlocked the door and stepped out into the hallway. Ranger turned around and gave her an inquiring look. "I was just wondering what you were doing at the wedding dressed up in a tux?"

Ranger glanced down at his attire, "I actually have a dinner meeting tonight. I came to the church because Tank implied that it was necessary. I have some business I need to take care of and it is about an hour away so I need to get going before I am late."

Just as Ranger was finishing saying this, the elevator doors dinged and out stepped Jeanne Ellen Burrows. Steph thought to herself, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Jeanne Ellen looked Steph over from head to toe and then looked back at Ranger, "We need to leave now if we are going to be on time. Nice seeing you again Stephanie." She gave Stephanie a fake half smile and turned back towards the elevator. Ranger glanced at Steph one last time and then made his way into the elevator after Jeanne Ellen. Steph held Ranger's gaze until the elevator door closed.

Feeling even more defeated Steph made her way back into the apartment, closed the door, and slid down it. Today she caught her groom kissing another woman and then had to witness the other man she loved going to dinner with another woman. She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest. She held her face in her hands and let the tears come again.

A/N: Poor Steph :(


	5. Chapter 5- The Talk

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Sorry it has taken a few days to get this next chapter up. I kept going back and forth with myself on where I wanted this chapter to go. I wonder what Joe has to say about that kiss? Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5- The Talk

After she composed herself she decided that she needed to get this lingerie off of her and into some normal attire. What a waste of money, pretty soon she wouldn't even be able to fit into it. She blew out a sigh and decided she wasn't going to go there right now. She figured going upstairs and putting together an outfit from Ranger's closet was much more appealing than facing Joe at the moment. With any luck she could be in and out before he made it back from his "business dinner" with Jeanne Ellen. She wondered if Jeanne Ellen had ever been into his 7th floor apartment before. She figured the answer to that was yes given the ease with which she had found Ranger on the 4th floor earlier.

Ranger's apartment looked the same as always. Unopened mail and keys on the sideboard, no clutter to be seen anywhere else, minimal amount of decorating present. She never seen anything that really represented him in the apartment and it brought home the reality of just how much she really didn't know about Ranger. She made her way into the bedroom and glanced longingly at his bed. She really missed his bed. She felt a pang at the thought of Jeanne Ellen sharing his bed with him tonight. She quickly pushed that thought into the "Things I Want to Remain Oblivious to" box and made her way to the closet.

She went to the corner that had somehow become her section of the closet and began going through the things that Ella had laundered for her. She noticed that some new Rangeman embroidered items had seemed to make their way into her wardrobe and in spite of everything she couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her. Ella was always ordering new things for her and she felt the need to embroider Rangeman on everything, even her underwear. Speaking of underwear, she seemed to have quite a few new pairs of black underwear and bras that she didn't remember leaving here or even ever purchasing. She quickly picked out clean underwear and a bra, yoga pants, and a Rangeman shirt and decided to go ahead and change in the bathroom. She really didn't want to run into anyone in her wedding lingerie and a large black T-shirt.

Once she was stripped down out of her lingerie she decided a shower would probably be best before changing into clean clothes. Since she was in Ranger's bathroom already she figured she might as well go ahead and shower there. It didn't make much sense to her to change into clean clothes, go to the 4th floor apartment and strip right back out of them there to shower when she was already shower-ready at the present time. It wasn't like she hadn't used Ranger's amazing shower before, and while it used to make her feel a little bit like Goldilocks to be in Ranger's apartment alone, now it just kind of felt natural. Plus, he had the most intoxicating shower gel.

After she was done with her shower she wasted no time making her way back down to the 4th floor apartment that was serving as her temporary home. Steph had just decided on checking her phone for messages when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and at the door stood Morelli still in his tux with a sheepish-looking Hal beside him. "I called Ranger and he said I should bring him up to you."

She knew by the large gulp Hal did that he received her silent Burg style glare loud and clear, his days were numbered. Next time she found him alone she was going to reacquaint him with her Taser.

Joe pushed his way into the apartment and closed the door in Hal's face, "Cupcake, do you care to explain to me why you ran out on our wedding? I thought this was what we both wanted?"

Steph figured when they had this discussion that she would feel nothing but anger, but at the current moment all she felt was deflated. Everything that had happened today had exhausted her. "Is that a serious question Joe? Do you really have the audacity to come in here and act oblivious to what I saw?"

"What you saw? What about what I saw? What about the rumors going around the Burg that you left the church to go by pregnancy tests escorted by Ranger's mercenaries?"

"What exactly is it that you think you saw? Please enlighten me because I have no clue?"

"I'm talking about you being in the bathroom with Ranger? What was that all about!?"

Great. He was already at shouting levels and Italian hand gestures and they hadn't even gotten to their issues yet. Most of their fights ended with no resolution at all. Today she just didn't have it in her to yell back. "Look Joe, Ranger was in the bathroom with me because he was checking on me. He was checking on me because, yes, I was in fact escorted by Tank to buy pregnancy tests," she held he hand up when she seen he was getting ready to comment, "Let me finish. I went to buy pregnancy tests because I couldn't fit into my wedding dress and my sister said I looked pregnant. Now, why were you kissing Terry?"

He completed ignored her question again and focused on what he wanted to know, "So, are you?"

She took a deep breath in and exhaled it out slowly, "Yes, I am."

He came rushing at her and engulfed her in a hug, "That's wonderful news cupcake! We're going to be parents!"

She didn't think he would think it was so great when he found out it might not be his. Plus he still hadn't given her the answer she was waiting on, "Joe, for the last time, why the hell were you kissing Terry? I mean that was the reason I ran out on the wedding." Although come to think about it, she wasn't really sure if she would have gone through with the wedding once she had seen the pregnancy tests results anyways.

Joe pulled back and gave her what she had come to know as his "It Wasn't My Fault" face. "Well see here is the thing cupcake, do you remember when I was undercover on that case almost 3 months ago?"

Steph raised her eyebrow, "Yes."

"Well the thing is we weren't really sure about our relationship then, and Terry was on the case with me. Well one night, one thing led to another, and well…..we ended up in bed together."

Steph was seeing red, "And what does this have to do with you kissing her at _our wedding?_ I mean if you weren't sure you wanted to be with me you probably shouldn't have asked me to marry you if you were going to start cheating on me before we even said 'I Do'."

Joe had a bit of a panicked look on his face. This worried Steph because she had never seen this look on his face. Deep down she knew whatever he told her was going to be bad. "Well we had a few drinks that night and we, um, forgot to use…."

Steph just continued to stare at him. She had no words to convey what she was feeling.

Morelli must have realized he needed to continue because after running his fingers through his hair he went on, "Look Steph, somehow I forgot to use protection and she's pregnant. That is what she was told me today. I'm sorry Steph I never meant for this to happen but it doesn't change anything! She kissed me!"

"Really Morelli? You having a child with someone else doesn't change things? From where I am standing that changes _everything! _And it didn't look like you were trying too hard to deter her from kissing you when I opened that door!"

"I did not cheat on you Stephanie! It happened when we weren't together. I still want to be with you and I still want to marry you! Look, her kissing me caught me off guard. Just because I am having a child with her doesn't mean I want to be with her. I plan to be a part of the child's life but that is it. I want to be with you and raise the child we are having together."

"Look Morelli, every time we try to be adults and grow up something goes wrong and we go into an off-again stage of our relationship. I think that says a lot for itself. Also, regardless of what you say you knocking up someone else just a few months ago does change things. Look, if it turns out that you are the father of my child then I hope that you want to be a part of that child's life but as far as you and I having a romantic relationship, it's not going to happen."

She could tell he was reaching his boiling point and he had the oddest expression on his face, "What do you mean by _**IF**_I am the father of this baby?"

Shit! She hadn't meant for it to come out like that but since it was out she couldn't really take it back. "Well, let's just say that you weren't the only one that slept with someone else during the time before our engagement."

"I will kill him!"

"You will kill who?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me Steph! You know exactly who I am talking about, Ranger!"

"I never said Ranger was who I slept with."

"You didn't have to. It's obvious! He looks at you like you are lunch! He looks at you like he has had his first serving and wants to come back for seconds, and thirds, and so on and so forth! If it was someone other than Ranger then speak up."

Steph looked at Joe with her hands on her hips and remained silent.

He shook his head at her with a look of disgust on his face, "Yeah, that's what I thought. I can't believe you would do this to me!"

"Oh so me sleeping with Ranger is not ok but you sleeping with Terry is?"

"No Stephanie! Nothing about this is ok!"

"Your right it's not. I think it would be best if you just leave."

"So when do I find out if it's my baby?"

"I don't know Joe? You will probably find out when the baby is born."

Joe sighed, "Well obviously that's going to be awhile. Isn't there anything you can do to find out sooner?"

"Look Joe I don't know! This is pretty new to me too and I have no fucking clue ok! When I know you will know! Now leave! Don't call me, I'll call you!"

"This isn't over Cupcake." And with his last parting sentence he stalked from the apartment and slammed the door behind him.

Steph sank down on the couch and was surprised to find she didn't even feel like crying. Maybe she was all cried out. How did her life get so messed up in a 24 hour time span?

A/N: Yikes! What did you guys think of this chapter? Let me know.


	6. Chapter 6- And the Talking Continues

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Hey guys, thanks for all of the reviews that I have received thus far. I may not always respond to each one but I do read and appreciate each one. For those of you worried, yes Steph has been hit with a lot so far but I assure you that she does end up with a HEA. However, this is Stephanie's life we are talking about and we know that she can't get to her HEA without a complication or 20 along the way.

Chapter 6- And the Talking Continues

Steph woke up feeling disoriented and wondering where she was at. A quick look around alerted her to the fact that she was in the 4th floor apartment at Rangeman. Her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything for dinner before falling asleep on the couch after Joe had left. Come to think of it she couldn't really recall eating much of anything the whole day. She wondered what time it was anyways. A quick glance at the clock let her know it was a little after 9 pm. No wonder she was starving.

As Steph made her way into the kitchen she thought about Ranger and wondered if he was done with his business meeting. She also wondered if he was currently still enjoying the company of Jeanne Ellen. Thoughts of Ranger actually made her feel a little queasy to her stomach at the moment. This was both due to thoughts of him with Jeanne Ellen and also the fact that she needed to tell him about the possibility that this baby could be his and fast. She knew the minute that Joe ran into him he would waste no time cluing him into the circumstances and she would much rather that he hear it from her instead of Joe. She wondered if he would take the news that she was pregnant and wasn't really sure if he was the father or not better than Morelli had taken it. Worst case scenario she figured he would lock her up in a safe house for the duration of her pregnancy.

The more she thought about telling Ranger the more nervous she got. The more nervous she got, the more nauseous she got. Finally, she decided she couldn't eat until she talked to Ranger. She blew out a breath and with a new resolve made her way out of the 4th floor apartment. She figured if she was going to be a parent one of the first things she needed to change was to take responsibility for her actions and be as grown up about this situation as possible.

On her ride up to the 7th floor she figured things could get awkward quickly if Jeanne Ellen was there. Oh well, what choice did she have? The sooner Ranger knew the truth the better. She stepped off the elevator doors and stood in front of the entrance to Ranger's apartment trying to build up her courage for what she needed to do. She must have been standing there longer than she realized because the next thing she knew the door was swinging open and Ranger was standing before her wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Babe, are you planning on standing outside of my door all night or are you coming inside?"

"Uh… well, um, am I interrupting anything? Do you have company?" Steph asked as she looked behind Ranger to see if she could see any evidence that Jeanne Ellen was lurking in the apartment.

"No, I was just getting out of the shower. Come in."

Steph stood awkwardly just inside the door of the apartment as Ranger made his way in the bedroom to presumably put on clothes. She was still standing there when he made his way back out of the bedroom with a T-shirt and athletic shorts on. He looked at her with an almost imperceptible frown on his face, "What's wrong?"

Steph was having a hard time meeting his gaze so she was looked at her hands as she kept wringing them continuously. She was never good at talking about important issues, especially with Ranger. She jumped as she felt his hand under her chin forcing her to look at him. "Babe, does this have to do with Morelli coming by earlier? I thought it would be ok but I guess I should have probably checked with you first."

Steph still remained silent. "Babe I know you think I can read your mind but I need a little help here."

"Can we sit down?"

Ranger raised an eyebrow at her, "Sure."

She sat down on the couch and Ranger sat beside her and turned her so she was facing him. She took a big breath and prepared to tell him. "Look Ranger, I'm not quite sure how to say this so I'm just going to come right out with it. Obviously, I am pregnant. The thing is, I am not really quite sure how far along I am since I haven't been to the doctor yet. The other thing I am not quite sure about is WhoTheFatherOfThisBabyIs," she could feel herself starting to panic as she blurted out the last part.

She maintained eye contact with Ranger but he just continued to give her a blank stare. "You can say something anytime now."

"So you're saying I might be the father of this baby?"

"Yes."

She met his eyes again and he still had his blank face on. "Look Ranger, I didn't mean for this to happen. I know your lifestyle doesn't lend itself to relationships, or marriage, let alone a family. If it turns out that you are the father I am not holding you to anything. I don't want to interfere with your life and I don't want you to resent me for this."

The expression he had on his face now was no longer a blank face, but she couldn't quite decipher it, "Does Morelli know?"

She heaved a big sigh, "Yes, Morelli knows. If it turns out that this is his baby he will be a new father of not just one baby but two."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, the reason he was kissing Terry Gilman was because he knocked her up and apparently he is for sure the father of that baby. He says he doesn't want to be with her and just wants to be a part of the child's life. But, if this is his baby he expects me to settle down and be his little Burg wife. If it's not his baby though I am pretty sure that offer is off the table." She gave a humorless laugh as she finished.

"What do you want?"

"I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than to be a Burg wife. I understand that I am going to be a mom now but that doesn't mean I want to stay home and do laundry and clean house and cook food all day long. Regardless of how things turn out Morelli and I are done. If this child is his he can be a part of their life but as far as him and I having a romantic relationship it just isn't going to happen."

"Proud of you Babe."

"How can you be proud of me? I feel like a terrible person being knocked up and not sure who the father is. Oh my god! I'm like one of those women you see on the Maury show trying to convince some guy he's for sure the father when she was sleeping around with someone else."

"Babe, you could have taken the easy way out of this. You could have just not said anything and let Morelli think you were 100% sure this was his baby. You could have gone ahead with your wedding not knowing and have become what you call a Burg wife."

"But that's not me, and I couldn't do that."

"And that's why I am proud of you. Also, when you and I slept together, you and Morelli had an open relationship and obviously he was sleeping with other people as well so there is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Ugh, this is all such a mess."

"Look, regardless of how things turn out, I am going to be there for you. You don't have to go through this alone. I am always going to be there for you."

And just like that she lost it, boom, and cue the waterworks. These flipping pregnancy hormones were already affecting her. Ranger drew her in against his chest and rubbed her back while she got his shirt all wet.

"Steph shhh, it's going to be ok. Regardless of whom the father is everything is going work itself out. And Steph?"

"Ya?"

"I could never resent you for carrying my child."

"But, you've always said that you didn't want a relationship or a family."

"You're right I did say those things, but where you are concerned I tend to bend rules that I have set for myself. Now come on, let's get you something to eat, Ella brought food up right before you got here."

After they finished dinner Steph got up and started putting her shoes on.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm tired and I have had a physically and mentally exhausting day. I am ready to go to bed so I can face whatever challenges tomorrow will bring."

"So why are you putting your shoes on to go to bed?"

"Because, my bed is 3 floors away and I figured I would put my shoes on for my walk there."

"Stay with me."

"Ranger, I don't know if that is a good idea with the current circumstances."

"Steph look, regardless of whether that baby is my baby or Morelli's baby makes no difference to me. What matters to me is that it is _your_ baby and right now I don't really think you want to be alone, so stay with me."

She gave him a wobbly smile because sometimes he just knew what she needed.

A/N: Well?


	7. Chapter 7- Facing Reality

A/N: Not making any sort of profit. All recognizable material belongs to Janet Evanovich

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated this story! I promise you it will get finished and I will try not to go so long without an update again.

Chapter 7- Facing Reality

Steph opened her eyes and could see sunlight starting to stream in around the curtains. She rolled to look at the other side of the bed but as she suspected Ranger was already absent. He always got up at freakishly early hours. She suspected she would never be a morning person. The clock on her cellphone told her it was 8:35; she figured she might as well get up and start her day, and what better way to start it than with Ranger's shower gel?

After she showered and got dressed in clothes from Ranger's closet she made her way out of the bedroom and could immediately tell that Ella had already delivered breakfast. Ranger was already seated and was divvying up the food between two plates. He glanced up and smiled at her when she walked in, "Morning Babe, how did you sleep?"

"How could I not sleep well in your bed?" Realizing what she said she immediately started blushing.

"Babe," Ranger said while the sides of his mouth twitched in an almost smile. "So what are your plans for the day?"

"Well, I figured given all the missed calls, voicemails, and text messages on my phone I would try and call some of them back and let them know what is going on. I mean, it's going to get out anyways so I might as well go ahead and inform everyone that I'm having a baby and leave it at that for now."

"And what about your plans after you make these phone calls?"

"Well I figured I would go to the Bond's office and see if Vinnie has any skips for me."

"Babe," Ranger said as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

Ranger sighed, "You can't chase skips anymore. Your _pregnant_ and going after skips could put you in a situation that would cause harm to come to the baby."

"Oh yeah. Crap! This is why I shouldn't be a Mom! I just found out I am pregnant and already I am putting the life of my baby in danger. What is going to happen when the baby is actually born? This is a disaster! My life is an absolute disaster!"

"Babe, you're not a disaster. You just found out you are pregnant and it is going to take some time to come to terms with that and make the necessary changes in your life to accommodate this change."

Steph finally flopped down in the chair across from Ranger, "You know I just always thought that if I had a child it would be because I planned to have one. I didn't think I would just end up pregnant and not know who the father of my baby is."

Ranger stared back at her for a moment before he spoke, "Steph, a very large majority of pregnancies are unplanned. Also, sometimes you don't know you want something until you already have it. And then once you have it, you can't imagine how you lived your life without it. You can't imagine your life without this _person_ being a part of it."

"And what about the not knowing who the father of my baby is? I mean, I have already decided that if it is Morelli's that I don't want a relationship with him and at best he would only be a part of the child's life. If it turns out that you are the father, then I feel like I have let you down. You have always been clear. Your love comes with a condom and not a ring. You don't do relationships. I mean what if you are the father Ranger? Are you and I going to be like you and Rachel? Are you going to send me a paycheck every month to take care of your offspring? Are you even going to want to be a part of this child's life or are you going to do the occasional drop in like you do with Julie? Oh my god! Regardless of who the father of this baby is, I am going to be a single mother. I am going to have to do this all alone." At this point Steph had tears streaming down her face.

Ranger came around the side of the table and scooped Steph out of her chair. He carried her back into the bedroom and sat on the bed with Steph cradled in his arms. Once she had calmed down enough to where he thought she would listen he decided to try and alleviate her fears as best as he could. "Look Steph, I know I have said some pretty stupid things to you in the past. I was trying to do what I thought was best for you, and I didn't think that I was what was best for you, I still don't. What I want you to understand is that I am going to try to be there for you in every way possible during this pregnancy and after the baby is born _regardless _of who the father is. I'm not promising you a relationship but I will try to be there for you. And to answer one of your questions, what you and I have could never be like what Rachel and I have. With Rachel I have a daughter that I don't really know by a woman that I never loved. I love you, and I am going to try to be there for you. What do you say to us going and eating our breakfast before it gets cold?"

Steph sniffled, "Sure." She still was satisfied with the answer he gave her, but she figured it was the best she was going to get at this point.

Shortly after they got settled at the table and had started eating, Steph's cell phone rang. Ranger reached for it since it was closest to him and looking at the readout he glanced up at Steph, "It's your mother."

Steph bolted up from the table and started sprinting towards the bathroom with a muttered, "I think I'm going to be sick."

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


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